Ethics of ageing
ThemesEthics of ageing
What is this about?
Ageing is a fundamental principle of our life and it is going to be more and more subject of medical researches around the world. The needed to examine ageing from an ethic point of view is necessary to understand how researchers should approach to this theme in the respect of human principles.
Recently, with development of research, is becoming a limitation to look at ageing as something that happens only when one is old, thereby ignoring the fact that ageing is a process to which all the people are subject, and that the ageing person is treated as an object in ethical discourse rather than as its subject. Define the potential of research in this field is fundamental to understand how deeply human intervention can go on a process defined as natural until today, as aging is[1].Why is this important?
For whom is this important?
What are the best practices?
Recent advances in research allow for a more defined view of the ethical issues surrounding the treatment of aging. Today we know that the senescence of the organism is a pathological process with a great variety of pathological consequences in old age (which causes or aggravates cardiovascular disease, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and many others). It has also been shown that in laboratory animals it is possible to slow down aging, prolong healthy adulthood and reduce the age incidence of a broad spectrum of aging-related diseases. This is accompanied by an overall extension of the life span, sometimes to a great extent. Ethics discussions in this area argue how the treatment of aging can have detrimental consequences on society as a whole.
Anyway, given the developments in research in the treatment of diseases linked to aging, it would be useful to define how these interventions must be applied without ethically compromising the meaning of existence as a society, devaluing life by extending its duration[2] . In conclusion, decelerated aging leads to conflicting decisions. The health benefits force us to pursue it, despite the change in some ethical aspects of human society will be inevitable.Mirko contributed to this theme. Latest contribution was Feb 22, 2021
